The Blame Asia Meme

There seems to be a blame game making the rounds in policy circles these days in which Asia is at fault for the credit crisis and economic downturn. The meme goes like this: Everything was fine until the Asians started manipulating their currencies and creating excess savings to export to the West. This mercantalist policy of low domestic demand, high savings, and an export-oriented economy set up huge macro imbalances that created the debt bubble and recession we see today. Asians need to save less and buy more — and stop manipulating their currency. Do you buy this line of argument? I don’t.

But judging from recent statements by policy makers in the U.S. and the U.K., there are any that do. Witness this article from the Times of London last week, which was reporting on quantitative easing aka printing money. The U.K. has resorted to printing money as the only way out of an economic pickle. But not without some measure of recrimination. Note the blame given to Asia, which I have highlighted in bold:

Mr King emphasised the need for international cooperation to fight a global downturn. Limiting banks’ cutbacks on lending meant cross-border action was essential. “Almost every aspect of the present crisis has an international dimension.”

He blamed the crisis on a binge of lax lending by banks, and on a wall of cheap money from Asia as a result of “global imbalances”. Urgent action was needed to tackle these problems and prevent future turmoil, including new weapons for central banks and governments to prevent excessive future build-ups of debt, were needed. Governments of big economies also needed to work together to overhaul the global monetary system.

I flagged this article when I saw it last week, but my concern about the Blame Asia Meme has only increased with time. The focus here, of course, is China. Tim Geithner, the new U.S. Treasury Secretary, has said, “Treasury has to be and Treasury will be a source of bold initiative.” What does that mean? Judging from Geithner’s other statements, it might mean protectionism. The video below sums up the protectionist sentiment both in Europe and in the United States.

The most pointed exchange has been as a result of Tim Geithner’s comments during his confirmation hearings when he accused china of “manipulating” its currency. Here’s what WIllem Buiter says about all of this:

Timothy Geithner, the nominee for US Treasury Secretary, has risked damaging the global economy even before his confirmation by the full Senate. In a written answer to questions from US senators, Geithner said: “President Obama – backed by the conclusions of a broad range of economists – believes that China is manipulating its currency”. In the US, the words “currency manipulation” are fighting words. If the US administration were to formally name China as a currency manipulator, a range of trade sanctions could be imposed by the US government.

The threat to world trade comes from the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988. The section dealing with the exchange rate, bilateral current account balances and the overall current account balance is a monument to economic illiteracy.

Under the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988, “The Secretary of the Treasury shall analyze on an annual basis the exchange rate policies of foreign countries, in consultation with the International Monetary Fund, and consider whether countries manipulate the rate of exchange between their currency and the United States dollar for purposes of preventing effective balance of payments adjustments or gaining unfair competitive advantage in international trade.”

“If the Secretary considers that such manipulation is occurring with respect to countries that (1) have material global current account surpluses; and (2) have significant bilateral trade surpluses with the United States, the Secretary of the Treasury shall take action to initiate negotiations with such foreign countries on an expedited basis, in the International Monetary Fund or bilaterally, for the purpose of ensuring that such countries regularly and promptly adjust the rate of exchange between their currencies and the United States dollar to permit effective balance of payments adjustments and to eliminate the unfair advantage.”

6 Responses to "The Blame Asia Meme"

Anonymous January 28, 2009 at 4:30 am

Personally, Edward I do blame Asia’s policies of cheap labour and disempowerment of the individual in their societies for this crisis. They must allow their people to grow their individual power and wage levels and wealth or we are doomed to a world of indentured slavery, ever decreasing personal wealth for the average person and unrealised economic and social potential. A future third world, world – with the rich and powerful having unlimited control over the vast majority of poor and powerless – a world where the potential of mankind will never be realised.

Anonymous March 12, 2009 at 3:04 am

What do you mean by individual power and wage levels and wealth? The global economic structure is set up by the West. Without utilizing cheap labor, who is going to give China the technology and know-how it needs to pick itself up by the bootstrap. Technology transferred is not free. In the global marketplace, it only matters what you can bring to the table. The West got a head start by plundering wealth of poor and defenseless country for free, now the third world is paying for it. It looks like you didn’t fully understand the article. Your blame China meme is getting old.

Vladimir January 30, 2009 at 7:02 am

The US: from sole superpower to subprime borrower victim of predatory lending. Cry me a river…

Guest February 1, 2009 at 8:43 pm

Vladdy, apparently you have trouble with reading comprehension. Do you have limited mental capacity? Maybe Dell can help you